


Lavellan To Cake

by einsKai



Series: Journeys to Fantasia [1]
Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Assassin!Tenn, Bard!Riku, Blood and Violence, Brotherly Love, Centaur!Ryuu, Curse Breaking, Fairy!Yuki, Familiar!Momo, Fighting, Gen, If people tell me to I'll up the rating to M but idk, Knight!Gaku, Knight!Iori, Knight!Ryuu, Like very minor, Queen!Tsumugi, Satyr!Yamato, Shapeshifter!Momo, Tenn-centric, Witch!Yamato, Witch!Yuki, hints of future relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-06 17:45:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15200090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/einsKai/pseuds/einsKai
Summary: “Are we going then?”“Can’t wait, huh?”“Yeah, I can’t wait to get a deathly curse removed from my body. I’m so impatient, honestly.”





	Lavellan To Cake

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday Tenn and Riku!
> 
> This is my contribution to the twin's birthday - a Tenn-centric Fantasy AU!
> 
> I planned on making this a short one shot but before I knew I had 4000 words and was barely finished, so here I go!
> 
> There are some elements of the fantasy world that are inspired by Peter V. Brett's Painted Man and Cornelia Funke's Reckless, so if you spot them, well done!
> 
> Have fun reading!

Tenn walked along the narrow hallway of the inn. It was a shabby place and he didn't know why the two knights of the kingdom would even rest here, but they were definitely inside these rooms and he was coming for them now. He did feel kind of sorry for them, since they hadn't done anything yet, but the anonymous letter the organisation had received had clearly stated that the two were plotting something, possibly in relation with the organisation. And that they were already inside the city where the organisation had its main base wasn't too promising either.

Tenn opened the door with the key he had received from the owner of the inn, really what were those knights doing here?, and opened the door. The sleeping figure on the bed looked relaxed, almost peaceful. How could that idiot sleep like that, if he was in such an unsafe situation?

Tenn got one of his daggers, coated in the poison of a Lavellan, and tried to find the perfect position to kill this man most effectively. Even if he didn't kill him immediately the poison would do its work, but he'd rather not have the dying man alert his companion.

Just when he was raising his hand to stab the man, he was suddenly being pressed to the floor, his hand holding the weapon made immobile by another hand gripping his wrist. A quick look to the bed showed him that the sleeping person was vanishing rapidly. An illusion. Tenn had been fooled by an illusion.

"Good evening", the knight said, "It's the perfect weather for murder, don't you think?"

"Shut up", Tenn mumbled from his uncomfortable position on the floor, his voice muffled by the mask he was wearing.

"I don't feel like shutting up", the knight said and Tenn felt a rope wrap itself around his wrists, tying them together behind his back. An illusion, magic rope... He had underestimated his targets.

The knight helped him sit up and lean against the frame of the bed. Then he removed Tenn's mask.

"You're so young", he commented, "How old are you? Fifteen? Sixteen?"

"Eighteen", Tenn answered. As long as there was no harm to the organisation he didn't see a reason to not answer this man's questions. He'd probably be arrested anyway, he did try to kill a knight of the kingdom.

"That's still too young", the knight said and moved closer to him, "I see the organisation received our letter?"

Tenn tried to hide his surprise, but it was obvious from the knight’s expression that it had shown on his face.

"So they did send you to kill us, because we're planning to harm them."

"You sent that letter yourself? Are you crazy?", Tenn asked.

"A little", the knight answered, "so, assassin-boy, will you give me some answers?"

"Don't call me that", Tenn said, "depends on the question and the reward."

"We'll see about that", the Knight said and moved closer, as if he had spotted something. He combed through Tenn's hair, brushing it to the side. He inspected the complex jewellery Tenn was wearing on his ear with a trained eye. That knight knew exactly what he was looking at.

"What is this?", he asked nonetheless.

"It's my life's achievement", Tenn answered darkly, "They're bones. Whenever I kill someone they cut a finger off and add the bone to it."

"That's a huge number then", the knight said softly and let the hair fall over the jewellery again, "are you proud?"

Tenn's breath got caught in his throat. No, of course he wasn't proud. But what choice did he have? He wasn't doing this for himself, he remembered, this was all for Riku, so Riku could live on like they did before. He wasn't doing this for anything or anyone but his brother.  
Tenn felt pressure form behind his eyes, like he was about to cry, but Tenn tried his best to keep it in, not like he could cry anyway. The cursed earring was preventing him from doing so and it did its job well.

"It's okay to cry. I won't tell anyone. Not like I'll be able to, after you kill me, right?", the knight said.

"Shut up!", Tenn said, "You don't know anything about me, so shut up. And you literally have me tied down; I can't do anything against you."

"You're correct", the knight said, "I don't know anything about you. But I'd like to learn more about you. So how about a deal?"

What? What was this man talking about? Tenn had just tried to kill him. Why did he spout nonsense like this?

"You're really crazy", he said, a strained laugh barely audible, "They made a madman knight."

"Maybe they did, but no matter how crazy we are, my companion and I are trying to find and arrest the leaders of this organisation. The same organisation that stole you away from your family and told you they wouldn't harm them if you just did what they told you to do. And the same organisation that knows about our plans, because we told them, and sent you to kill me", the knight grinned an infuriating grin, "We could use some inside information."

How did he know about Tenn's family, how did he know? Did he know Riku by chance? Did Riku tell him what happened on that day? Or did he just figure out that this was the way the organisation operated?

Tenn stayed quiet, but the knight smiled. "See, we have a deal. You help us and I'll", his fingers pointed towards Tenn's ear and almost touched the jewellery again, "Take this thing off you."

"You can't do that", Tenn said, "Nobody can. It's not an ordinary earring. There's magic involved too, they have a magician and they told me I'd-"

"That you'd die if you took it off, yeah. I know these kinds of spells, or curses, whatever you want to call it, and I also know someone who can undo it."

Tenn grew quiet to think for a second. Then he nodded slowly.

"My name is Tenn", he said, "I will help you, but if I die I'll haunt you until you lose the rest of your sanity residing in your three brain cells. And if we succeed you'll help me to find my brother."

"See, that was easy. I'll untie the rope and you won't try to kill me, okay? Then I'll get my companion and we'll talk some more."

Tenn nodded and the magical rope unfastened itself from his wrists. He stretched his fingers and watched as the Knight knocked on the wall next to his bed and then he could hear a knock on the door.

A very tall man entered the room and when he was inside Tenn realised that he was so tall because he was a centaur. He had never heard of a knight of the kingdom being a centaur, but he didn't really know much about the kingdom at all, so that was probably the reason.

"Good evening", the centaur said politely, "My name is Ryuunosuke, but you can call me Ryuu. What's your name?"

"Tenn", he answered.

"Did you scare the kid, Gaku?", Ryuu asked the other knight, apparently his name was Gaku, but that one shook his head.

"He's not a kid, he's eighteen and I don't think anything can scare him. He uses Lavellan poison; this man is tiny but fearless."

"I'm not tiny", Tenn protested but quickly got back on track, "Let's just get this over with, if the organisation finds out I'm siding with you they're going to send other members here and then we're going to have a bigger problem than some poison."

Gaku nodded: "Very well. Our mission is to find and arrest as many core members of the organisation as we can manage. Can you bring us to their main base and show us where we can find the core members?"

"I can", Tenn said, "I can even bring you to their meeting room. They're all there right now, waiting for me to bring your corpses there."

"Our corpses?", Ryuu asked. He looked like the image made him feel nauseous. Tenn understood completely.

"They like to use them for experiments I think", Tenn said, "I've never been involved in that, so I don't know. But if you play dead I could bring you inside the room where the core members are assembled."

Gaku nodded, deeply engrossed in a thought.

"How would you carry us?", he asked then, "You're not weak, but I'm sure that you can't carry two grown men at the same time."

"Genie-Item", Tenn answered. He carried a matchbox that had been enchanted by a genie. Everything that touched the inside of the box got trapped on the inside, until Tenn opened it again. That was how he carried most of his victims.

"Could we go inside there alive?", Gaku asked.

Tenn nodded. "I hid myself in there once; it's a very useful item. Sadly they're not very durable, but the organisation has many of them and hands them out to most of the assassins."

The knights nodded.

"Here is the plan. You sneak us into the room with the core members and then you release us. Then you hide yourself immediately. Can you do that, or should we give you a potion?"

"I can take care of myself", Tenn said, but the knight didn't listen.

"Take it anyway", he said and handed Tenn a small flacon with a clear liquid, "If you can't manage to hide yourself or are about to be found out then spray your tongue with this. Once is enough to hide you for an hour, or until you spray your skin with it."

Tenn quietly took the offered flacon and pocketed it. "Thank you", he said then, "I appreciate it."

"Don't sweat it. Just become visible again when we call you, yeah? We'll want to leave together."

Tenn nodded and got the matchbox from his equipment pouch. "Here", he said, "the genie magic will make it seem like only a second passed for you, so I advise you to draw your weapons and get in gear already."

The knights followed his orders and Tenn took the time they needed to prepare to reflect on his situation. It was surreal. How did he go from a ruthless assassin to helping his supposed victims with their mission? What about them made him change his mind so quickly? He thought about the confidence Gaku had had when he said that he could find his brother. That must have been it. Riku and the promise to get rid of the earring.

Finally both of them had finished up. Nothing Tenn had ever seen compared to the sight of the human and the centaur in battle armour. An aura of strength and reliability surrounded them and Tenn knew why the knights of the kingdom were so highly regarded now.

"Draw your weapons and touch the inside of this matchbox", he said then, "It will be almost immediate for you, so be prepared."

The centaur produced a long lance out of thin air, the famous centaur magic of storing various items away in a different dimension, and Gaku drew his sword. It was a beautiful sword, one that had seen battles but had been cared for. Tenn could see the repairs, but they were well done and wouldn't have an impact on the sword's performance. He wondered if the sword had been named already and how Gaku had come into possession of this fine sword.

One last determined look from Ryuu and a "Don't die on your way inside" from Gaku and the two of them touched the thin cardboard the box was made from.

Immediately they were drawn inside by the genie's power, and Tenn closed and pocketed the box. He briefly played with the thought of just telling the core members that he was bringing the knights to the assembly alive, to take them hostage and maybe get some information about the kingdom's activities, but the weight of his earring reminded him of the promise Gaku had given him. He had to believe in them.

Tenn recollected himself and left the inn. It was a short walk to the main base of the organisation, maybe five minutes if one took the street. Tenn was faster, because he climbed over roofs and sneaked through the gardens of unsuspecting civilians.

Two minutes later he was standing in front of a harmless looking building. The front was a small money exchanging business, because the border to the neighbouring country wasn't far from this city and the currency exchange rate of big banks was often way too high for the average person. In reality this building served as the headquarters of the organisation. A lot of shady things were going on behind the counter where the foreign money was exchanged for the local currency.

Tenn wasn't informed about everything the organisation did, but he had figured that they had sold drugs and slaves in the past, as well as the strange experiments they liked to make on the corpses that were brought to them by their assassins.  
Tenn was glad that he had qualified for the assassin training, because when he had been imprisoned in the dungeons in the secret base below this city, he had been planning to bite his own tongue off as soon as the organisation tried to sell him to anyone.

Deeply engrossed in his thoughts he passed the door to the backroom and also hell on earth.  
He was allowed to move freely in a certain area of the base, because of his status as an assassin, but the looks people threw him weren't pleasant. He was nothing to them, not even human. Just a tool. He'd be better as soon as the knights freed him.

Tenn stopped in front of the huge door. It was made from the blood-red wood of a certain magical tree that would guarantee that no word spoken inside the room could be heard outside. Too bad for them that nobody would be able to hear if they called for help either.

Tenn knocked and entered.

"9-10", he was greeted by the number he had been assigned with at the assassin training. It had replaced his name over the years, but he would be glad to leave it behind.

He bowed before the core members. All fourteen of them were sitting around a table in the middle of the room and all their faces were turned towards him.

"Good evening council", he greeted and bowed down. There was nothing else he was allowed to say. When he reached for the matchbox his fingers brushed against the flacon with the potion.

"Have you accomplished your mission?"

Tenn nodded and pulled the matchbox out of his pouch. He handed it to the council member closest to him and they passed it on until it reached the head of the council and of the organisation.

The head of the council looked at the box for a second and Tenn was almost afraid that he wouldn't open it, that he had somehow known and this would be it, he would be marked as a traitor and be killed and Gaku and Ryuu would be killed too, or worse-

 

But then the human man in the garments of the organisation opened the matchbox.

 

Hell broke loose.

 

Tenn had hidden himself under the table quickly and fumbled with the potion, while he heard the noises of hooves around the room.  
From his position under the table he could see that two or three members were already laying on the floor unconsciously, or dead, and that the others had stood up and drawn their weapons.  
Ryuu was standing in front of the door, opposite of where his position had been when the matchbox had been opened and he was fighting at least five of the remaining members of the council.  
The others had closed up on the head of the table, where Tenn suspected Gaku to be standing on top of the table and defending himself with his sword. Idiot, he'd be an easy target if he stood on the table, especially if he was surrounded by some of the most powerful people in this city.

Finally Tenn had gotten the flacon out of his pocket and sprayed his tongue with it, just like Gaku had instructed him to do. A tingling sensation crawled over his skin and as soon as it was gone he looked down on his own hand and saw nothing. He as well as his clothes had turned completely invisible.

He put the flacon away again and crawled out of his hiding spot to evade the fight. He overlooked the situation.

 

Gaku was indeed standing on top of the table, two members of the council collapsed at his hands already. He was defending against the strikes of two swordsmen and deflecting magic attacks of a mage. The head of the council was nowhere to be seen and Tenn wondered where he could be, but before he could think his thought to the end he saw something that made his blood freeze.  
One of the men he thought had been unconscious stood up, he was a half-giant with a battle axe that was as broad as his shoulders, and he was approaching Gaku from behind.  
The knight had just been hit by one of the magic attacks and it seemed to slow his movements, at least he wasn't moving as quickly as before. He barely blocked a blow of a sword that would have pierced his abdomen and hit the assaulter in the face with the handle of his sword. The woman stumbled back and Gaku turned around to look at the half-giant approaching.

The look on his face was not confident anymore and Tenn's heartbeat, so loud and fast rushing through his ears, grew even louder.  
Tenn saw red and ran towards the table, leaping on top and reaching the half-giant with just a few steps. He jumped, kept the head of the man in a steady lock with his legs and stabbed him in the neck.

The stab didn't kill him, but the dagger Tenn had used was coated in a sedating poison.  
The giant fell over and crashed into the table.

"Thanks Tenn, but I could have managed on my own", Gaku said, apparently the spell had been broken now; at least he was moving at normal speed again.

"You were about to get your head split in half by a battle axe, be more grateful", Tenn replied.

"Yeah, yeah, now hide yourself again. This fight isn't over", Gaku turned around and reflected a fireball the magician has shot after him. It hit its sender right in the stomach and knocked him down, into the swordwoman that had just gotten up again. The two fighters were sent to the floor in a tangle of limbs and Gaku threw the enchanted rope from earlier over them and it wrapped itself around them, securing them at least temporarily. Then the last swordsman tried to hit Gaku, but he blocked him and hit him over the head with the flat side of his sword.

His breathing a little strained Gaku turned around to Ryuu and called out to him: "I'm finished here, what about you?"

Tenn turned around to the centaur, who, despite bleeding from a cut on his flank, was just knocking down the last of his opponents.

Tenn took a breath and it felt like it was the first breath he had taken in years. He was free. He was finally-

 

A hand wrapped itself around his invisible throat and held him up in the air. He kicked desperately and felt the same tingle that he had felt when he had turned invisible. He looked down at the hand wrapped around his throat, at his white knuckles clutching at the merciless hand - he was visible again.

Gaku's face came into his vision, next to Ryuu and Tenn gasped for air, black dots swimming in in his vision.

"I see, I see", the voice of the leader sounded, right next to his ear. On the brink of consciousness Tenn felt his breath ghost over his neck. A brief sense of Déjà vu overcame him, but he couldn't place it, "We've got ourselves a traitor! You all know what that means?"

Tenn felt his consciousness fade, but all of the sudden the pressure from his neck was gone and he was lying on the floor, face first, like he was a dropped ragdoll. The shaft of Ryuu's lance was in his field of vision. He had thrown it and pierced the shoulder of the man holding him.

Gaku's hands on his shoulder helped him get up, and they carefully examined his throat, checked the bruises, if anything was broken. "Are you okay? Can you breathe? Did he break anything?"

He carefully held Tenn upright, so he could give him a healing potion. Tenn swallowed it and felt how the bruise around his neck got better immediately. He could breathe again, see again.

"Thank you", he said coarsely and looked around the now empty room. Only a few broken chairs and the table were still there, "Where are all the council members?"

"I took the liberty of using your matchbox for the transportation of our prisoners", Ryuu said from the other side of the room, "I hope that's alright with you."

Tenn nodded. It wasn't like he would need it anytime soon. And he would go with them; Gaku had promised him that he would get rid of his earring for him.

He shook Gaku's hands off and stood up, his legs shaking. It had been one of the healing potions that used the subject's own strength to heal.

"I'll show you the way out, but this base is full of people. You two have to become invisible too. There's some of that potion left. You two use it and I'll lead you."

"Or we just", Gaku started and grabbed Tenn, threw him over Ryuu's back like he was some kind of luggage, "kidnap one of their assassins and wreck some havoc on them."

With that the two knights began to move, Gaku running next to the centaur, their weapons still drawn.

The way out was a blur in Tenn's memory. Shouting, blood and a heaviness in his limbs, as if he'd fall asleep any second.  
Finally the loud noises died down and he felt the cold air of the night. On the back of the centaur, Tenn fell asleep.

 

He woke up to hushed voices and the characteristic noise of burning wood. The knights had made a campfire.  
He was laying on a thick blanket, covered with another thin piece of cloth, probably a cape from one of the knight's armours.

"And you're sure that we should take the kid with us?", that was Ryuu. The centaur's worry was eminent in his voice and words. They were talking about him.

"He's not a kid anymore. And I promised to help him get rid of that death-earring and find his brother", that was Gaku. The other knight sounded exasperated, like they had been arguing about this for a long time. How long had Tenn been out?

Ryuu sighed: "And you like him."

Silence. There was no response. Gaku didn't have anything to say, apparently.

"Just be careful. The last few times you liked someone they turned out to be a demon or a salamander and tried to kill you or burn the capital down", these stories sounded extremely interesting, Tenn thought. He should ask about them sometime.

"I don't like him like I liked the demon and the salamander", Gaku protested, "I don't know him well enough for that."

Ryuu sighed: "Just make sure to tell him. The kid probably hasn't felt any kind of love in years, show him some affection."

"What kind of affection are you talking about?!"

"Let him ride on your horse or hold your sword, what do I know about human ways of showing affection? I'm just a centaur, we're loners."

"Uuh I'm Ryuu, I'm the loneliest centaur in the world, I only have a clingy childhood friend and an awesome companion who went through thick and thin with me, who goes by the name of Gaku by the way, and all women in the capital love me and all young squires admire me and I'm really close with lots of other people, but I'm a loner type because I'm a centaur!"

"He isn't clingy", Ryuu said, but didn't defend himself against all the other accusations. Tenn had to conceal a smile.

"Well", Gaku said, "We'll have time for sentimentalities later, now it's time to go there."

Ryuu seemed to nod or give some other kind of visual answer, but when Tenn tried to lift his head to see what was going on, the two men noticed that he was awake.

"So you finally woke up", Gaku said. He came to Tenn's side and tried to help him sit up, but Tenn swatted his hands away and sat up on his own.

"How long was I out?", he asked then.

"A few hours. It's almost morning", the centaur asked, "We are in the woods south from the city."

"We'll be on our way to the person I told you about before", Gaku said, "I'm sure your earring can be removed there. And then we'll look for your brother."

Tenn nodded slowly. He was still feeling tired from the aftereffects of the healing potion.

"Get some more rest", Ryuu said, "It'll be a long ride tomorrow."

Tenn nodded. "You too", he said then and laid down again.

The two men began talking again and to the tone of their hushed voices Tenn fell asleep.

 

 

 

His shoulder being shaken woke him up.

It was the early morning, at least the sky was tinted with a hue of red in the East, and the knights had already put out the campfire and were ready to go.  
Only now Tenn saw the beautiful white horse that was tied to a nearby tree. It was clad in light armour that showed the coat of arms that was also on the armour that Ryuu and Gaku wore and Tenn had never seen a horse that looked more capable of being a knight's horse.

"This is my horse", Gaku said, as if Tenn had been asking. Obviously Ryuu didn't need a horse, and asking Ryuu to carry Gaku like a horse would have been extremely disrespectful, of course it was Gaku's horse.

“How unexpected”, Tenn said and raised an eyebrow, “What am I supposed to do with this information?”

“You could be happy that I’ll let you ride with me, brat”, Gaku answered, but no actual malice was in his voice, “Ryuu offered to carry you, but that’s your decision to make.”

Tenn thought about it, but quickly dismissed the thought of being carried by the centaur. Even if he offered it would still be disrespectful and as long as Gaku’s horse could handle both of them it should be alright.

“I’m taking you up on that offer”, Tenn said, “I hope your horse is as strong as it looks.”

“She is the strongest horse I have ever owned”, Gaku said, “And she will without a doubt manage to carry the both of us anywhere.”

“Good”, Tenn said and picked up one of the backpacks the knights had brought with them, “Are we going then?”

“Can’t wait, huh?”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to get a deathly curse removed from my body. I’m so impatient, honestly”, his voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Come on you two, stop this”, Ryuu intervened. He was carrying most of the baggage at the moment and gestured towards the backpack Tenn was holding, “Give me that so I can store it away.”

Right, his magic, Tenn remembered and gave Ryuu the backpack. It seemingly disappeared in thin air as soon as it touched the centaur’s hand. Fascinating.

“Shall we go then?”, Ryuu asked.

With no additional weight the horse easily carried Gaku and Tenn’s combined weight and the ride felt like they were flying. Tenn had almost never gotten a horse in his time with the organisation and it was very new and unusual for him, especially riding with someone else. He was sitting behind Gaku and holding onto his armour lightly, so he’d be safe from falling. No that he actually needed it, because despite the bumpy road and the high pace Ryuu set the ride wasn’t very exhausting. Like flying, just as he had thought before.

Tenn let his thoughts wander and as always he thought of Riku. What was he doing right now? Was he still working on their parent’s farm or had he decided to pursue a career in another field? Maybe he had actually done well in school and attended a university in the capital or another big city at the moment. Or had he followed their childhood dream? What did he look like now? Did he still wear his hair like Tenn’s, like Tenn had worn his hair when the organisation had taken him away? Not that Tenn or the organisation had changed his hairstyle, but maybe Riku had? Would he even recognize Tenn if they met again? Would Tenn recognize Riku? They had last seen each other as children and now they were both adults.

Suddenly the road led them out of the deep woods, where they had been before, and led to an open field. The sky was covered in thick clouds and no ray of sunshine was in sight. It looked like it would rain soon and Tenn felt an uncomfortable tension sit in the air. Thunderstorm, he noticed and wanted to tell Gaku and Ryuu that they shouldn’t walk towards an open area when there’d be lightning in a few minutes, when he saw something even more unsettling than before.

Tenn's fingers that had been holding onto Gaku's armour lightly to guarantee that he wouldn't fall off the horse began gripping at that very same armour so tightly that his knuckles stood out in white against his already pale skin.

"What are you doing?!", Tenn asked, "We're going to die! This is a cliff, we're going to fall and die!"

The cliff in front of them came closer and closer and neither Gaku nor Ryuu stopped running towards the bottomless pit that opened up in front of them. The edge of the cliff came closer and Tenn’s heartbeat was loud in his ears, panicky and helpless, like a bird trapped in a cage.

When Gaku didn't seem to react to his pleads he turned to Ryuu, who was running next to them: "Ryuu, say something! Why are you running with us, you're also going to die!"

But Ryuu's eyes weren't open. He was running with his eyes closed and Tenn was seriously freaking out. He couldn't jump off the horse either, at a speed like this it could wound him fatally and he couldn't risk that, not in the middle of nowhere with two apparently suicidal knights on the way to their demise as his only companions - who wouldn't be his companions anymore when they fell down the cliff.

While Tenn was furiously thinking about a way, any way, to escape out of this situation unharmed it was already too late.  
The edge of the cliff was only a few steps away and they were going to fall, everything would have been futile, he should've stayed with the organisation, what would become of Riku-

 

The cliff disappeared and instead an area of flat land appeared in front of them. The grass that was covering the entire area was brushing against Tenn's feet, even though he was sitting on the horse, that was how high it was, and the strangely unnatural green colour it had was extremely unsettling. In the distance he saw a small lake with an island. A perfect circle of trees were growing on the island and they were all blooming in the exact same way. The branches were covered in the same pink blossoms and they looked just as unnatural as the grass. The clouds and the tension from before were gone and the sun was shining with a soft warmth that was just perfect for a comfortable temperature.

The horse and Ryuu had stopped running and were now walking slowly towards a small house made from wood that was located on the only hill in the area.

"Fairies", Tenn said, "Fairies live here. The illusion magic that suggested bad weather conditions and a cliff to hide their home, the colours and the circle of trees. There are fairies here."

Finally Gaku talked to him again: "One fairy to be exact. And he's not the kind of fairy one would expect when talking about fairies. He's a witch. He can help you."

"There's two other people here too, his familiar and husband, a shape-shifter, and his apprentice, a satyr", Ryuu said, "I actually-"

Ryuu couldn't finish his sentence because in that moment something next to them made a loud sound, like a blade on stone, and a figure was revealed. Someone had been walking with them, unnoticed because they had concealed their presence and had been invisible.

"Yamato!", Ryuu said, the emotions in his voice an interesting mix of surprise, annoyance and happiness, "Why is this the first thing you have to do when we see each other again?"

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. Nice to see you buddy", the green haired man laughed. Tenn noticed that his way of walking was a little different from humans and when he looked down he saw hooves. This was the satyr that Ryuu had talked about. A shape-shifter and a fairy left.

“Say Ryuu”, the satyr, Yamato, said, “How long are you staying this time? Yuki-san couldn’t really say anything this time, he only said that you’d arrive today.”

“We don’t know yet”, Ryuu said, “We need Yuki-san to lift a curse. It’s up to him how long we’ll stay.”

“A curse? Interesting”, Yamato said, “I’ll go ahead and tell him.”

The same sound from before was heard again and Tenn flinched as the satyr disappeared again.

“Can you just tell him that he should work on the sound of his magic before learning new magic? Why is it so loud? And why is it such an ugly sound?”, Gaku was rubbing his head. Tenn couldn’t see his expression, but he assumed that it was an annoyed one.

“I think he likes it, so why would I stop him?”, Ryuu said and shrugged.

“If we ever take him on a mission he’ll have to conceal his sound”, Gaku said, “There’s no way we can go unnoticed with that kind of sounds.”

“We’re not taking him on missions”, Ryuu said, “He may be on his way to become a witch, but he’s not a useful healing tool you can take on missions. I won’t endanger him.”

“There you go again, protective childhood friend centaur Ryuu”, Gaku sighed, “If you don’t tell him I will.”

“You won’t”, Ryuu said and with that the argument ended, mainly because they had arrived at the house. Three people came from the inside, Yamato the satyr and two others.

One of them seemed to hover a few centimetres above the ground and had long, grey hair. His face was so angelic, almost ethereal, that Tenn didn’t feel like he should be allowed to look at it and he wore clothes made from fabric that looked like literal water had been woven into it. A fairy, no doubt.

The other was a tad smaller and seemed almost like he was human – if not for his eyes that hat slitted pupils, like a cat’s. His hair was checkered in black and white and grey and Tenn concluded that this was what his fur looked like in his animal form. He was a shape-shifter after all, at least that was the person who was left.

“Welcome”, the fairy greeted them and Tenn and Gaku both dismounted the horse. It stood still behind them, until Yamato walked up to it and it began following him. Ryuu followed him too, to do whatever those two were up to in their free time.

“Hello Yuki-san”, Gaku said, “We need your help.”

“I’m aware”, Yuki, the fairy, said, “I take it you know what the price will be?”

Gaku’s face hardened and he nodded: “Of course.”

Tenn expected something horrible to be the price, like a gallon of blood, or an organ, so what Yuki said next surprised him.

“Wonderful. I would like a cactus and the newest volume of “Recipes for a Meatless Diet” by the same author as always.”

“How many recipe books can one person write?”, Gaku sighed, but nodded, “I will deliver it to you as soon as I have the opportunity.”

“Good”, Yuki said and his familiar smiled: “Should I go and prepare everything?”

“No, Momo, I will do that myself”, Yuki said and with that he disappeared. Momo the familiar turned towards Gaku and Tenn.

“I’m sure you’re tired from the trip”, he said and gestured for them to come closer, “Do you want to come in and relax a little?”

“I’m mostly tired from being close to him”, Tenn said and pointed at Gaku, “I don’t need any relaxing at the moment, but thanks for the offer.”

 “Right back at you, brat”, Gaku said, “Be grateful I didn’t make you walk.”

“You shouldn’t exhaust yourself more”, the familiar said, “I’m Momo. It’s nice to see a new face with Gaku and Ryuu. How did you three meet?”

“I tried to kill them and they sort of adopted me. Strange story”, Tenn answered.

“We didn’t adopt you, we freed you”, Gaku said, “And now we’re here to lift the curse on your earring.”

“Show me”, Momo said and raised his hand. When Tenn nodded to give him permission, he touched the material the jewellery was made of. His face didn’t change, the same smile on his lips he was wearing the whole time, but he looked worried.

“How long have you been wearing this earring?”, he asked.

“Six years, seven months and twenty-three days”, Tenn answered. He had counted. He and Riku had been separated eight years, eleven months and fourteen days ago.

“That’s a long time”, Momo said, “I’ll tell Yuki. We have to be careful.” He disappeared through the door, leaving Gaku and Tenn outside of the house.

“That long…”, Gaku said. He looked like he felt guilty for some reason.

“It’s not your fault that you didn’t come rescue me earlier”, Tenn said, “It’s not like you knew I was there.”

Gaku didn’t say anything at first and looked away. He took a step towards him and ruffled his hair.

“If you need me for anything tell Yuki or Momo. They’ll get me.”

“I won’t need you”, Tenn said and pushed Gaku’s hand away, “But thanks. I guess.”

A cat appeared in the doorway into the house and Tenn recognized it as the animal form of Momo. The cat seemed to say that he should follow him, so he waved goodbye to Gaku and followed him inside.

The house was bigger on the inside than it seemed on the outside. A round room opened in front of Tenn, in the middle there was a fireplace and a boiling cauldron. On the shelves on the walls there were countless herbs and books that looked older than the world, almost falling apart.  
On another shelf newer books were standing and next to the only window an abundance of flowers and other plants were growing in pots. Almost none of them looked like crop plants or medicinal plants, so Tenn assumed that Yuki really just liked plants.  
The other plants that were growing in a part of the room that had been shielded from the light with some kind of magic looked more like magic plants. The mushrooms that were changing colour and the carnivorous plant with the teeth that were as long as Tenn’s fingers looked dangerous even.

This really was a witch’s room.

“Come on in”, Yuki’s voice came from one of the doors that lead away from the main room.

Tenn followed it and found the witch and fairy in the room. It was emptier than the main room and he felt like it had a different energy. Tenn couldn’t use magic by himself, but even he could sense the concentrated magic that emerged from this room.

Tenn sat down in the chair that Yuki offered to him. It wasn’t especially uncomfortable but not really comfortable either.  
As soon as he had found the position that was best for sitting, he felt his body freeze. From the neck downwards Tenn was paralysed. He looked at Yuki questioningly and saw a soft blue light glowing around the witch’s fingertips.

“Don’t worry”, the cat, Momo, who was sitting on Yuki’s shoulder, said, “This is not permanent. It’s only for a few hours. Probably.”

“Why?”, Tenn asked. He felt his breathing grow frantic. Not being able to move was hell for him, who was always on guard to defend himself. Not being able to do that was horrible.

“It will hurt”, Yuki said bluntly, “A curse like that won’t be removed without a price.”

“We don’t want you to run away or anything like that. It could kill you if you did”, Momo jumped down from Yuki’s shoulder, “We’ll make sure that you don’t have to shoulder the full amount of pain, but it will hurt nonetheless.”

Tenn nodded slowly. He understood now, which didn’t mean that he liked it.

“I’m ready”, he said, “Give me something I can bite into.”

A thick piece of leather was tied around his head by Yuki and Tenn bit into the mouthpiece, to ensure he didn’t accidentally bite his own tongue off.

He nodded to signal that he was ready again and Yuki began mumbling words in a language Tenn didn’t understand,

He hadn’t been ready.

The pain that exploded in his head was worse than anything he had ever experienced. He felt an ear-splitting scream coming from his mouth and even though it was muffled by the leather he was sure that it had been audible in the whole area.  
He had felt bones splitting and immediately knew that this was what it felt like to take an arrow to the head – but only for a split second, then he felt the wound closing and only the blood in his hair was left. Normally he wouldn’t have survived a wound like this.

He couldn’t see properly anymore, because his eyes had filled with tears of pain. His breathing was uneven and he felt like sobbing, but restrained himself. He could do this.

An image of his brother flashed in his mind, but was erased when a new wave of pain hit him. This time he could even see the wound, a perfect line in red, drawn around his wrist. His hand was being cut off by someone invisible.

He screamed again.

Momo and Yuki had been right. If they hadn’t restrained him he would have been running away now.

He screamed for a third time, when he felt a wound open in his abdomen and a dagger messing up his guts with its blade, but he wasn’t really sure about that. It could have been the fourth, or fifth, or the tenth time too. The piece of leather fell from his mouth.

His hair and clothes were soaked with blood and sweat at this point already, even though it felt like they had just started.

His next scream was interrupted by the door slamming open and Gaku standing in the frame, out of breath.

“Tenn”, he said, panicked, “Tenn, what’s wrong?!”

“Nothing is wrong”, Tenn answered through gritted teeth. He felt his kneecap dislocating and flinched when it sprung right back into place a second after, “I’m wonderful, just feeling a small amount of pain. Like ‘I want to rip off my skin to distract myself’-small.”

Yuki and Momo were both so invested in the lifting of the curse that they ignored Gaku, who took a step towards Tenn.

“Can I help? Somehow?”

“You could stay so I can look at your-“, Tenn winced as a new pain coursed through his body. This time it was concentrated on his abdomen. He vaguely remembered killing one of his victims with a stab to the abdomen. So that was it. He had to live through the pain of the people he had killed to lift the curse, “-your dumb face for distraction.”

“You little shit”, Gaku said, but his voice was fond, “I’ll tell you a story to distract you. I can’t do anything outside either. Ryuu and Yamato got drunk on Yuki’s fairy wine and are useless now. It’s the middle of the day, how are they already drunk?”

Tenn forced a little smile that turned into a grin of pain when another wave hit him. This time his legs were being broken and slowly cut off.

“The demon and the salamander”, Tenn managed to press with the last air that was left in his lungs, “Tell me about them. And help me put the leather back into my mouth. They paralysed me, I can’t move.”

Gaku sighed. “So you heard Ryuu and me talking…”, he helped Tenn bite the leather again. Just in time. The new pain made Tenn bite the leather so hard that he felt his teeth protesting, “Well, if you really want to hear it…”

“As you know they’re stories about my disastrous love life. I met the demon in an inn. He bought me a drink, he was disguised as a human, and we became friends. I was fairly new as a knight back then; I had just become one a few months back. The demon gained my friendship and my trust and soon I stumbled into a romantic relationship with that man, who introduced himself as a travelling vendor. Ryuu warned me that something about him didn’t seem right, but I didn’t listen until one night I found him kneeling above me in bed while I was sleeping, draining my life force.”

Gaku didn’t look at Tenn while he told the story, which Tenn was grateful for. In the few minutes it had taken Gaku to tell the story Tenn had been killed by a crossbow arrow, a stab wound to the chest, his throat being slit and had lost multiple limbs. His face was full of tears that wouldn’t stop leaking from his eyes and his clothes were full of slowly drying blood.  
He must have looked terrible.

Tenn was imagining a funny story when he had heard Ryuu and Gaku talk about the Demon and the Salamander. Not Gaku’s first heartbreak. But he’d take it. Any distraction was welcome.

Gaku continued his story: “So I threw him out of the window. He grew wings mid-fall and flew away, but the guards on the wall got him with their bows.  
I was heartbroken of course. I really thought that we’d had something there.”

Tenn hummed. He didn’t really feel the need for a romantic relationship, not that he had had the time for that kind of thing when he was an assassin, but even he understood the craving for physical contact from time to time. Mostly he wanted to see his brother again and hug him like when they were children.  
He could imagine the feeling of betrayal he would feel if Riku turned on him and he imagined being betrayed by a lover could feel similar to that.

“So I worked a lot, because I wanted to forget. Ryuu and I went on lots of missions. We gained a lot of honours in that time”, Gaku said, “When we were in one of the villages around the capital a traveller approached me. She had bright red hair, a colour I had never seen before. I saw it later with other people, but at that time it was completely new for me. She asked us to take her to the capital, to guide her there.”

Tenn also knew someone with bright red hair. Riku had red hair. He really couldn’t wait to see his brother again.

“I liked her, so I told Ryuu that we should take her to the capital. We did and then she immediately transformed and tried to burn the whole city. It was unpleasant, but Ryuu and I managed to catch her. She’s still in the dungeons under the castle.”

Gaku stopped talking for a moment before he resumed: “So these are my stories of unfortunate encounters. I’m glad ours doesn’t seem to be the same. How about you tell me about your brother now?”

Tenn had been concentrating on Gaku’s voice to not focus on the pain of multiple violent deaths coursing through his body, but now he spit out his leather mouthpiece.

“He is my younger twin brother. He was always sickly, but he was determined to become like me… I used to sing during the working hours on our family’s farm. And everyone always told me I should become a bard. I wanted to be one, I really did…”, Tenn’s heart clenched at the memory of the long forgotten dream, “He wanted to be one too, but because of his sickness his voice was never as strong as mine.”

Tenn bit his lip when a new wave of pain hit him. He felt hot blood dribble down his chin and neck. Nonetheless he continued.

“All I can hope for now is that he didn’t become like me, even though that is what he wanted to be so badly.”

Gaku nodded slowly next to him, deep in thought. “What’s your brother’s name?”, he asked, “And what does he look like?”

“Riku”, Tenn answered and the recognition that flashed in Gaku’s eyes made Tenn’s heart soar with hope, even though he still was in gruesome pain, “Only our faces look alike. His hair and eyes are-“

“Red”, Gaku finished his sentence, “I… know your brother. He lives in the capital.”

Tenn could breathe again. Not because the pain had stopped, it was still there, or because the air had become fresher, no, it was the relief, for the first time in eight years, eleven months and fourteen days Tenn could know for sure where Riku was and that he was safe.

“He’s training to be a bard. I met him at multiple festivities, because his partner is a knight like me. I know where he works and I can take you there. After you’re done here.”

Tenn’s breathing was still heavy, but the pain seemed far away now, dulled and like it was behind a wall and not his pain anymore.

“Thank you”, he whispered, both for his brother and for helping him through the pain and the lifting of the curse.

Gaku nodded and said something, but Tenn didn’t hear it anymore. His conscious dropped into a deep, deep lake. The darkness engulfed him and it was warm and soft and surrounded by that warmth Tenn let go.

 

 

 

When he woke up Tenn could move again.

A weight on his chest hindered him from getting up from his position on the bed, but when he reached up to feel what it was his fingers met soft fur. Tenn felt relieved.

Momo was lying on his chest in his cat form and purred lightly. Tenn took comfort in caressing his fur.

He felt different from before. Like a weight had been taken off of his shoulders.

When he turned his head he saw the bones that had been hanging off his ear for years lying on the bedside cabinet. A kind of black root that looked slimy and shiny grew out of it. That must have been the curse, he thought. He felt nauseous.

They had changed him out of his bloody clothes and dressed him in one of the light garments he had seen Yuki wear. Fairy clothes felt good, or maybe it was just the feeling of finally wearing something that wasn’t picked by the organization that made him feel so good.

The cat on his chest uncurled and opened his eyes.

“Hello Tenn”, Momo said and stretched, “How are you feeling?”

“Exhausted”, Tenn said. He startled at the sound of own voice, unused and hoarse.

“I’ll bring you something to drink”, Momo said and leaped off the bed. He came back into the room a minute later as a human, carrying a glass of water and with Yuki in tow.

“How are you feeling?”, Yuki asked, just like Momo had, and sat down on the corner of the bed.

Tenn took the offered glass of water and drank.

“I don’t feel as dead as before I got the water”, Tenn said, but when Yuki still looked at him expectantly he breathed in and answered honestly, “I feel like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. And I feel guilty, but also… like I have been forgiven?”

The witch nodded. “That is the curse. It neutralizes feelings like guilt almost completely – the extend varies from case to case, you seem to have had problems with all emotions relating to your victims – to ensure the best possible performance for killers. When it is released the grudges of the dead make you experience all their deaths at once. They load all their hatred onto you and normally you would have died of all the wounds. We made it so that you didn’t take them all at once and quickly healed you, so no wounds were fatal.”

“You said it Yuki!”, Momo said, “You’re so hot when you explain things~”

Yuki nodded, a satisfied expression on his face.

“Thank you very much”, Tenn said and did his best attempt of a bow. It didn’t work that well because he was still sitting in the bed, “How can I ever thank you?”

“Your companion is already paying me”, Yuki said, “But…. If you want to repay us, pursue your dream and become a bard. Then come sing for us sometime.”

Tenn felt a burning behind his eyes when he heard these words. He didn’t think Yuki or Momo had been listening when he had talked to Gaku, because they had seemed too concentrated on lifting the curse. Now that he had been freed from the curse he actually felt like he was finally allowed to dream again.

Ten wiped his eyes with the sleeve of the fairy clothes. He wasn’t crying, definitely not.

“There, there”, Momo patted Tenn’s head comfortingly, “You still have to recover. You did sleep three days already, but you should stay in bed at least today.”

“Do you want to be alone for a while?”, Yuki asked and Tenn nodded. He was still overwhelmed with the feeling of freedom and the freedom to make his own choices.

“If you want to eat something, tell us. Ryuu and Yamato made their favourite soup yesterday and there’s plenty left. Not because it doesn’t taste good, but because they made so much of it.”

Tenn smiled: “Alright. Could I maybe get a book or something else to pass the time with?”

“Of course”, Yuki said, “I will immediately search my library.”

With that the witch disappeared.

Momo patted Tenn’s head a last time and disappeared too.

Tenn sat in bed. He still couldn’t believe it. He was finally free.

 

 

 

A few days later Tenn had recovered enough to be able to travel again.

Tearfully Ryuu parted from Yamato and Gaku shook the hands of Yuki and Momo, who hugged him in return. Tenn still wasn’t as familiar with Momo, Yuki and Yamato as Gaku and Ryuu were, but he too hugged Momo to say goodbye.

Then they started their journey to the capital.

It was a pleasant ride. The view Tenn got from the back of the horse was beautiful, near the capital the empty grass flats were populated by pixies that planted lots of colourful flowers and produced glittery powder that humans loved to use for several different purposes, mostly in the arts.

Tenn had loved the scent of the flowers, the colourful plants and the soft buzzing sounds the pixies made.

After a few days, Tenn hadn’t really counted, his newfound freedom was too overwhelming, they could spot the mountains where the capital was located in the distance.

Soon it came closer and Tenn could see it.

Huddled between two mountains and a lake the huge city wasn’t very approachable for enemy armys. The geographic factor was the reason for the decision to locate the castle here. It sat enthroned above all other building of the capital, elegant and beautiful.  
Around it in a circular arrangement the guild buildings stood. Different craftsmen, farmers, knights and also artists had a place where they gathered there.  
In the remaining space in the city walls there were residential areas and shops, schools and everything else a city needed. It was beautiful, Tenn thought, to see a city that was this well thought out and aesthetically pleasing to look at.

When they passed the city wall through a massive gate the guards greeted Gaku and Ryuu. They seemed to be well known.

“We’ll let you go to the bard’s guild, so you can find out where your brother is”, Ryuu said. Gaku had told him everything Tenn had said during his treatment, “We have to report to the queen and have to go through some steps before. I’m sure she wants to talk to you too, later, so be ready for that.”

“Thank you”, Tenn said, “How will you find me later?”

“Just trust us”, Gaku said and dismounted. Tenn followed his example, “Focus on Riku first.”

Right. Riku was here. Riku was close.

“Yes”, he said and turned around, “I’ll see you later then.”

 

The bard’s guild was loud.

In one room someone played the piano, multiple people were singing, others played a duet with violins and outside on the stairs to the building a group of bards sat and were composing songs on large sheets of paper.

“Excuse me”, Tenn said to someone who had just come out of the building. He hoped he didn’t seem too intimidating, but it should be alright. He had burned his old clothes in Yuki’s fireplace one evening and was currently wearing clothes the fairy made. They didn’t look quite as magical as Yuki’s own had, but they were still not human. It was way better than his uniform from the organisation, “Could you tell me where I can find Nanase Riku?”

“Riku?”, the girl said and smiled, “He was on his way to the knight’s guild. He has to deliver a song that was requested by Izumi Iori.”  
She leaned over to him and whispered: “Actually they’re just going to celebrate his birthday. It’s today and they’re really close, if you know what I mean, but Riku couldn’t get the day off, so Iori requested him for the whole day~”

Tenn couldn’t believe his ears. For years he had counted the days, months and years of his separation from his twin brother and now he forgot his birthday?  
The excitement about his freedom in the last few days and the three days he had been passed out had seriously disturbed his counting so much that he forgot his own birthday.

“Thank you”, he said nonetheless and turned around.

“He just went out, so if you hurry you might still catch him before he reaches the knight’s guild!”, the girl called after him. Tenn started running along the street towards the knight’s guild that was clearly visible from anywhere in the area, because it was such a huge building, the biggest of all the guilds.

Halfway to the guild Tenn spotted him.

Riku had grown.

The red hair was unmistakably the hair of his twin brother. He was wearing the typical clothes all bards wore. Tenn felt pride rise up in his chest. His brother had realized his dream of becoming a bard. Well done Riku, Tenn thought.

His brother had a spring in his step and was holding a big envelope, probably with his delivery, the song that the bard from before had mentioned.

“So happy…”, Tenn whispered, “Even without me.” Doubts began flooding his mind. Should he maybe leave his brother alone after all? He seemed doing well, even without him. And Tenn had changed over the years. Maybe Riku wouldn’t recognize him anymore, or worse, he could decide that he didn’t want to see Tenn anymore.

With a shake of his head he cleared his mind. No, this was his brother, Riku. He would be happy to see him. Surely.

Tenn picked up the pace and reached Riku. He lightly touched his shoulder from behind, which caused his brother to startle and turn around.

“Riku”, Tenn breathed, panting from his sprint, “Hello Riku.”

The startled expression on Riku’s face changed to one of surprise and in his eyes Tenn could see the recognition.

“Tenn-nii!?”, Riku asked and his lower lip quivered as his eyes filled with tears. The envelope slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground with a soft thud.

His eyes too filled with tears of happiness and he nodded: “Happy Birthday Riku.”

The hug he found himself in was tight and it held him in place like he was bound by chains. It was as if Riku was afraid that he could vanish any second. Well, it was only natural; Riku had probably thought him dead or worse for years.

“I knew you would come back!”, Riku said and big tears dripped onto Tenn’s new clothes as he held his brother, “Everyone said I should give up, that you were gone for good and told me to stop hoping and waiting for you to return, but I never did and now…!”

“Yes”, Tenn said softly. His tears were falling too now, he almost choked on them, “I’m back.”

The twins stayed in their embrace, Tenn’s arms slung around Riku’s shoulders while Riku buried his face in Tenn’s neck. He could feel how his energy levels that had been at the bare minimum this whole time replenished slowly. Hugging his little brother was still the best way to feel good again. He had missed this.

“I missed you so much”, Riku sniffled, “Ten-nii, so much has happened since you left! Mom and Dad had to sell their farm and we’re living in the capital now! And I’m a bard, look!”

Riku let go of Tenn and presented his clothes.  
As if suddenly becoming aware of his surroundings he bowed down and picked up the envelope that he had dropped earlier. He used his sleeve to wipe the tears from his face.

“That’s great”, Tenn said and also wiped his tears away, “I… can’t say it went that well for me.”

His brother went silent for a moment. He seemed to imagine what Tenn had gone through and Tenn wanted to stop him before his innocent mind got overtaken by the darkness of the past years, but Riku cheered up just as quickly.

“Let’s walk together. I have a da-“, he corrected himself, “A meeting with Iori in a few minutes. We wanted to celebrate my birthday, but since it’s your birthday too we can celebrate together! I’m sure Iori won’t mind.”

Tenn nodded. “Okay”, he said, “Gaku and Ryuu said I should be ready to talk to the queen later though.”

“You know Yaotome-san and Tsunashi-san?!”, Riku said and began walking again, “And you will talk to the queen? That’s just like you, Tenn-nii. Already making it big in the capital~”

“You know them too?”, Tenn asked and followed his brother, “They freed me and took me here. I guess one could call us companions, or… friends.”

He had whispered the last words, not sure if he was allowed to call the two ‘friends’ yet.

“They’re some of the most famous knights here!”, Riku said, “Everyone knows and admires them. You’re so lucky you got saved by them. And the queen is very nice, I like her a lot. I’m glad she is our queen!”

“I really am lucky”, Tenn smiled.

They arrived at the knight’s guild – it really had just been a short walk – and they entered. Riku seemed to be well known here and when they entered a certain room a blue haired man, probably younger than the both of them, stood in the middle.

“Congratulations to your nineteenth birthday, Nanase-san”, the man, or boy, said and smiled.

“Iori!”, Riku said and hugged him for the greeting, a gesture that Iori hesitantly reciprocated, “Look who I met on the street! It’s Tenn-nii!”

“Your brother, Nanase-san?!”, Iori seemed surprised, but something was laying underneath the surprise that Tenn couldn’t quite pinpoint. Iori turned towards Tenn.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. Nanase-san has told me a lot about you already. I’m Izumi Iori, a knight of the kingdom and Nanase-san’s boyfriend. I hope we can get along.”

Tenn nodded and shook the offered hand. “Likewise”, he said, “Even though I can’t say I have heard anything about you.”

Iori turned back to Riku after their handshake. “Nanase-san, I have prepared a surprise for you”, he said and pulled out a scarf, “Please close your eyes so I can blindfold you.”

“But what about Tenn-nii?”, Riku asked while Iori was tying the scarf around his head.

“I don’t have a scarf for him, but he is welcome to follow us, of course.”

“I don’t want to disturb your date”, Tenn said, “I can leave again and come back later-“

“It’s your birthday too, isn’t it?”, Iori said, “Then it’s your surprise too.”

“Alright then”, Tenn said and followed Iori.

He led them to the basement of the knight’s guild building, where he shoved a bookshelf to the side and revealed a secret tunnel. Tenn questioned if Iori could just show something like this to him, an outsider, but if Iori did this it would be alright.  
They walked along the secret path that was barely lighted by some lone torches every few metres.

Finally Tenn could see the light at the end of the tunnel and when he stepped out of it the light blinded him, so he couldn’t see.

Next to him Riku took off the blindfold and blinked, looking around confusedly.

“Surprise!”, a few voices sounded and Tenn tried to see more than a few silhouettes.

Gaku, Ryuu, and a few other people who Tenn didn’t know were standing around a cake.

“Tsunashi-san! Yaotome-san! Nagi! Mitsuki! Your Majesty! Iori! You did all of this for me?”, Riku, who seemed to know all of the present people – and did he just call the woman “Your Majesty” – said.

“We had been planning this for a few weeks”, Iori said, “And when Yaotome-san informed us that they had found your brother we planned to let him take part in the festivities as well.”

So that had been the thing Tenn had found strange about Iori. He had only feigned the surprise. It had all been planned.

“You _knew_ that they found Tenn-nii?! And you didn’t tell me?”, Riku was clinging to Iori’s arm now, “Iori you’re so mean!”

A slight blush dusted the cheeks of Riku’s boyfriend and he mumbled something that Tenn didn’t catch, but he also didn’t really care about that, so he turned around to Gaku and Ryuu, who were smiling at him.

“You didn’t say you were that close with my brother”, Tenn said.

“Sorry, when I realized the opportunity that had presented itself to me I had to take it and keep it a secret, so I could see the surprised look on your face when you got a birthday party”, Gaku said and Ryuu added a cheerful “Happy Birthday”.

“Was this also what you meant when you said that I should get ready to meet the queen?”, he gestured over to the petite but strong looking, blonde woman who was talking to one of the guests, a blond man who was a bard too, judging by his clothes.

“No, you actually have to talk to her formally, but when she’s with us then she’s not the queen, she’s just Tsumugi then”, Gaku said, “Riku just likes calling her that “Your Majesty” thing.”

“I see”, Tenn said and looked at the cake, the warm light in the room and the smiling faces of his brother’s friends, whom he hopefully would get to know soon, his brother who was feeding his boyfriend cake and his own friends, he allowed himself to call them that, who were looking at him expectantly, “Well then, Gaku, Ryuu… Show me how you celebrate a birthday in the capital.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading to the end!
> 
> This is the longest One Shot I have ever written and I'm quite proud of it.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed~
> 
> \- Kai


End file.
